The invention relates to a cooling system for a galley for installation in a transportation means, in particular an aircraft, and to a method of operating such a cooling system. The invention relates further to a galley equipped with such a cooling system.
Modern commercial aircraft are conventionally equipped with galleys known, for example, from DE 10 2006 023 047 B4 or U.S. Pat. No. 7,780,114 B2. The galleys are generally installed in the region of the doors of the aircraft cabin and have a carcass having a base structure delimited by a worktop, as well as overhead cabinets arranged above the worktop. Kitchen equipment, such as, for example, coffee machines, water boilers, ovens, etc., as well as drinks and foodstuffs are usually stored in the overhead cabinets of the galley. In the base structure of the galley, on the other hand, there is arranged a galley compartment, which is conventionally cooled, for accommodating movable trolleys which are loaded with items, such as, for example, drinks and foodstuffs, which are to be served to the passengers on board the aircraft.
It is known from DE 43 40 317 C2 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,500 or EP 1 979 233 A1 and US 2009/000329 A1 to cool a galley compartment suitable for accommodating trolleys by means of a cooling station which is connected to a central cooling system of the aircraft and is supplied with cooling energy by a central installation for cold production. The cooling station is connected to the central installation for cold production via a cooling circuit in which a liquid or a two-phase cooling agent circulates. Alternatively, a galley compartment suitable for accommodating trolleys can also be supplied with cooling energy by means of a local cooler associated with the galley. The local cooler may be in the form of an air chiller, for example, and may be designed to operate with a two-phase coolant, that is to say, a coolant which is converted from the liquid state to the gaseous state when it takes up heat from the galley compartment to be cooled. The coolant of the air chiller takes up heat from an air stream which, after flowing through the air chiller, is blown into the galley compartment to be cooled.
Irrespective of whether the cooling energy for cooling a galley compartment is provided by a central cooling system of the aircraft or by a local independent cooler associated with the galley, in a galley having a cooled galley compartment, lines for supplying cooling air into the cooled galley compartment or for removing waste air from the cooled galley compartment are conventionally installed in the region of a rear wall of the galley carcass. Furthermore, corresponding installation space must also be provided in the galley for a cooling station of a central cooling system or a local cooling device in the form of an air chiller, for example, for installation in the galley.